Homecoming
by Aerysa
Summary: After a day out on the mission field, November returns 'home' to April and July. One such evening, he returns home to find a surprise.


haha, I was compelled to write another July story after reading Yuuki's :) He gets to share the limelight with November this time around. Also, they're probably a little OOC, but yah... *shrugs* This is probably really silly as it is anyways~

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**Homecoming**

As he stood out in the cold, wheezing from the disgusting drag of paying his obeisance, November threw down the lit cigarette in a fit. He gave it a dirty glare before he took great pleasure in stomping on it and smooshing it into the ground. Out of everything, this was the aspect of missions that he hated the most. They always resulted in using his powers, the part he didn't mind, which led to the payment - the part he despised with a passion. Of all payments to get...

Now that it was over, he turned on his heel and headed into the apartment; the building that he and the others were temporarily calling home. Depending on how long it took, they could be on the move again in a couple weeks or a couple months. Whatever the case, the physical location where they stayed didn't matter to him. The only aspect that concerned him was knowing that both April and July would be waiting for him upon his return.

They were sentimental thoughts, ones unbefitting a Contractor as everyone knew that Contractors were no longer in possession of human emotions. Even so, it wasn't like he actually felt anything. More accurately, it was a lingering thought that had developed after all the time they spent together as a team. April's powers complimented his perfectly and July was well-behaved; though that would have been expected given the fact that the boy was a doll. All in all, he couldn't ask for more.

The elevator door chimed and he walked in, pushing the button for his floor after the door had closed completely. He took a quick glance at his watch and determined that the two of them should be watching TV. April would be enjoying a beer because she always did, regardless of the time of day. July should be on the other end of the couch, mindlessly absorbing the information from some random show April had chosen.

A smile threatened to tug at his lips as he imagined July turning his blank gaze towards him after he entered the room. If it weren't for their true natures, they would be a family; that was probably why they were put together in the first place - at least one of the reasons. Momentarily, his mind wandered and he wondered if he would ever go near a woman like April if he were human. Somehow, he doubted it. As for July, the boy easily passed off as his son as they had the same blond hair and blue eyes.

Pushing aside those thoughts as they were a waste of time, he turned his thoughts back to the mission as he stopped in front of the apartment door. They were still in the surveillance phase of the mission as July had pinpointed their location that morning. Walking through the different phases, he determined that they would be done within the month - not quite as fast as he would have hoped, but not as long as it would have taken if problems arose.

"Hello?" November called out in confusion as he found the lights turned off upon entering.

He strained his ears to listen for them, but heard nothing. That was odd. Flipping on the lights, he carefully closed the door behind him and locked the door. He couldn't imagine that something had happened when they only arrived a day ago. It was too early for anyone to be onto them; if they even managed to catch their trail in the first place.

"April? July?" he called out.

Turning on the living room lights, a moment's hesitation entered him before it vanished. In its place, a slight frown marred his handsome features. April was missing, but July was standing in the middle of the room with his back towards him. His cap was left on the end of the sofa which was normal. The part that was confusing was the fact that he didn't respond.

It wasn't like he expected the boy to return his greeting, but he usually gave some visible indication that he had heard - a blink of the eyes, a slight nod; but there was nothing. In fact, he didn't seem to move at all. Glancing around the room for clues, he didn't find anything. It wasn't like April to leave July alone like this.

"July? Where's April?" November finally asked.

He stepped into the room towards the doll, but there was still no response. Not an inch of him moved and November's eyes widened in surprise as a thought entered his mind. It wasn't possible, was it? That he was broken... The idea spurred him into motion and he quickly closed the distance between the two of them.

"July!" November exclaimed, spinning the boy around to face him.

As a consequence of his actions, he was treated to a blank stare. The boy didn't blink and November noticed the awkward stiffness of his posture. He released his grip on July's arms slightly and was alarmed to see the boy start to topple over like he had been pushed... He had never heard of anything like this happening before.

"H - Hey! July!" he shouted, shaking the boy. "What happened?"

His blank stare continued to gaze in his direction and November couldn't think of any possible explanation for this. Despite his title of 'doll', it wasn't like he was a doll in the traditional sense. That was just the term they used because they were emotionless and controllable like a human girl playing with her doll. He couldn't just break... They were killed, not broken. But there was no one around to hurt him.

"Wait... Did something happen to April?" he asked as she hadn't been around either.

Looking around the room while he held onto July, everything seemed normal. Nothing was out of place. Besides, it didn't make sense that someone would take April, but not July. He was more valuable since he was the one who was complaisant. April could use her powers at will and scare someone, even if not actually harm them. But that left the idea that July was broken...

Glancing back towards the entryway, he didn't recall seeing April's shoes. Was it possible that she had stepped out to restock her booze stash? Something must have happened to July after she had left, but what? He tried to recall everything they were told when July joined them, except his mind blanked.

"Oh my God," he finally murmured. "What am I supposed to do now? July!"

He clutched the boy to his chest as his mind worked in overdrive to try and solve this problem. On one side, it kept arguing that July couldn't possibly be broken since he wasn't a thing to begin with. The other side was focused on the fact that he looked and behaved like a broken doll - non-responsive, unmoving, useless...

"That can't be true!" he finally exclaimed. "He's not useless!"

Loosening his hold on July to pull away and look at him, November shook his head. It just wasn't possible. There had to be an explanation for this, but he didn't know what. Despite the fact that his gaze and expression were exactly as he had initially found him, November refused to believe that July could possibly be broken. It just didn't make sense.

"Okay... Think November," he commanded himself. "This puts the mission on hold until I can figure out what's wrong. Damn it! Where's April? I can't take him to the doctor since I can't exactly admit that this is normal, on some level, for July. But what do I do?"

The boy ate and drank like a normal person, though not as much as would be expected of someone his age. He never voiced any complaints and it wasn't like either of them mistreated him. That would be beyond stupid as he was an important member of their team. After all, surveillance was a specialty that he had full mastery of.

"July!" November exclaimed, turning back to his partner. "Say something! Do something! It's not possible that you're broken!"

*****

Standing in the darkened hallway that led to the bedrooms, April clamped her hand over her mouth as her body trembled from the overwhelming urge to laugh. This was not what she had expected to see from their immaculate team leader. But then again, in a way, it was. After all, she wouldn't have thought up this prank otherwise.

As for July, he was amazing. Not once had he even twitched despite hearing everything that November was babbling about. She would definitely have to buy him a treat the next chance she got. He deserved it. As for November... Her shoulders shook as a result of fighting her fit of giggles. To see the steadfast November flustered like this was not something just anyone would witness.

*****

"A phone. A phone call! No, we never did things that way," November mumbled to himself. "It leaves too many openings for people to trace... Oh come on. Think! July... How do I fix you so you're back to normal? Is there even such a thing as a doll doctor? I can't imagine there is... But what if they tell us to get rid of you and get a new partner? I don't want that. Our team is perfect the way it is..."

November would have said more when he heard something behind him. Holding July protectively to his chest, he whirled around in surprise. Did an intruder come back? He couldn't believe that he had been too preoccupied with the situation to notice that someone else was in the room. He took an offensive stance, ready to do battle, when he was rewarded with an outburst of uncontrolled laughter.

"W - What the hell? April?" he asked, recognizing her voice.

Unfortunately for him, she was too busy clutching her stomach to answer him. She stepped forward out of the shadows and partially moved into the room with one arm wrapped around her body and the other supporting herself against the wall. She had really tried to hold it in longer, but he had heard her when a burst of sound had escaped.

"Stop laughing," he demanded. "Something is wrong with July. What the hell have you been doing to let things get this bad? And why didn't you come out sooner?"

She couldn't help it despite the fact that he was utterly serious. In fact, that was what made it even more hilarious. Despite the original bout of laughter subsiding, another one threatened to overtake her as he stood there with a stern expression on his face, something rare for him to begin with; all the while, he was crushing poor July protectively to his chest.

"Oh my God November, you are seriously killing me," she managed to get out.

"I'm killing you? You're the one who did something to July! He's your responsibility."

"W - Wait..." she replied breathlessly. "I don't think I can take anymore of this. July, it's fine. You can stop pretending."

"Pretending?"

April sighed breathlessly as her sides ached from laughing so much. Her breathing had become laboured as she hadn't been able to draw in enough air. Even now, she was tempted to laugh as November stared at her with a stupefied expression, waiting for her to explain her words.

"You're going to squish the poor guy to death if you squeeze him any harder," April finally stated with a grin. "July's fine. There's absolutely nothing wrong with him. Isn't that right, July?"

Unexpectedly, November felt a slight twitch of movement from the boy he held in his arms. When he glanced down at him, it was to see him slowly wriggling in attempts to get free. He looked back up at April to see a smug expression on her face and it finally made sense. She had done it on purpose, just so she could laugh at his expense...

Slowly letting go of July, November gently put him down before kneeling on the floor so they were the same height. He placed his hands lightly on the boy's shoulders and looked him in the eyes. July returned his gaze with the typical blank stare, but November was pleased to see that it followed his and that he was indeed fine.

"Will you answer my questions truthfully and honestly?" November inquired.

July nodded.

"Is April the one who told you to do this?"

Again, he nodded.

"Did I hurt you in any way?"

July shook his head.

"Was it as funny as April thought it was?"

He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he glanced back at April to find that she was still grinning while she leaned against the wall, watching them. When July finally turned his attention back to November, he slowly reached up with one hand and poked at the side of his mouth; he was trying to copy April's smile since he couldn't actually do so.

"Then... Don't you think she deserves a bit of punishment?" November asked slyly.

July nodded while still poking at his mouth.

"Good, then it's your job to capture her so she can't escape," November instructed softly as he leaned in towards the boy. "Go... Now!"

November quickly turned him around and propelled him forward. Before April could realize what was going on, July was running towards her - something she never expected to see. He charged right at her and came crashing into her. She steadied him while July clutched at her shirt. When she saw that he was fine, she looked back at November and it was his turn to grin at her.

"W - What?"

"As a unanimous decision, we have decided that you are deserving of punishment for your prank."

"What are you going to do?" she inquired.

"You'll just have to find out..."

As her leader smirked at her, April shook her head. He was up to no good and she wasn't sure she wanted to be on the receiving end of one of _his_ pranks. Unfortunately, July was still clutching at her shirt. When she tried to pry his hands away to escape, he tightened his grip and leaned back his head to stare at her.

"Damn it. Using dirty tricks..." she muttered as she couldn't do anything to hurt July.

"Good job, July!" November exclaimed with a chuckle. "Now just to think of what to do to her..."

April groaned as she was trapped. He had picked his soldier well and they both knew it. She lightly placed her hand over July's and he loosened his grip slightly. In the end, she was resigned to her fate. The only thing she could think was that she should have prepared an escape route. As a Contractor, November was already strong. But the one thing more compelling than that was his mischievous nature, something he hadn't lost despite the new powers...

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**A/N:** Hopefully the ending was adequate enough... ^^;; I wasn't really sure how to end it nicely, but I definitely think November would be the type to get revenge - at least his form of revenge XD


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